VH1 Goes for 'Money' Shot

Various 'Love' contestants compete for cash

VH1 is nothing if not thorough in exploiting its original series to their fullest degree. So it will be with the newest cog in the "celebreality" machine, a summer show called "I Love Money."

As the title indicates, the series will be about the pursuit of cash -- and extending the franchise of other VH1 shows with "Love" in the title. "I Love Money" will bring together 17 former contestants from the various seasons of "Flavor of Love,""Rock of Love" and "I Love New York" to battle for a $250,000 grand prize.

As VH1's Jeff Olde puts it, ""'I Love Money' is the perfect 'celebreality' storm as it takes the biggest, boldest and most outspoken characters from VH1's hit series and puts them on one giant show. ... We couldn't resist the opportunity to make those breakout characters the true stars of their own show."

Details about both the show and its contestants will roll out on the VH1 Blog over the course of this week. Monday the network announced four guys from "I Love New York" -- season one's 12 Pack, Heat and Mr. Boston and season two's The Entertainer -- as the first contestants.

"I Love Money," if you're keeping track, is a fourth-generation derivation of a VH1 show: "The Surreal Life" begat "Flavor of Love," which both spun off "I Love New York" and set the template for "Rock of Love." As with all the other shows, Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego are the executive producers.